United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Baseball

FORT MYERS, FLA--(3/7/08)--Merchant Marine scored three times in the ninth to beat Coast Guard 6-3 in the Bears' season opener at the Gene Cusic Classic.

Sophomore pitcher Keith Heine led the Mariners, going the distance. Heine gave up one earned run, recorded eight strikeouts, one walk and gave up seven hits. Alex Wolfe helped out, knocking in the go ahead run on an RBI single up the middle in the ninth inning. Smith went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and one run scored.

Coast Guard starter, senior Will Becker took the loss for the Bears.

Coast Guard got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning, going up 2-0. Christian George hit in the first run with an RBI single left field, scoring Ryan Milligan. The second run came across when Kevin Keefe scored on a stolen base by George.

The Bears then followed up with another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 3-0. The run came across on a RBI double to right center by Milligan.

The Mariners answer back in the top of the fifth with two runs to make the score 3-2. J.B. Zorn started off the inning with a walk. L. J. Fioravanti then singled up the middle to put runners on first and second with no outs. The runners advanced to second and third after a sacrifice bunt by Brandon Scott. Zorn and Fioravanti came into score on a single up the middle by Wolfe for two of his three runs batted in.

USMMA tied the game up, 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning. L. James McCollum started off the inning, recording one of his three hits, with a single up the middle. McCollum worked his way over to third on a failed pick off by the pitcher and then a wild pitch by the pitcher. Mike Bybee was able to knock in McCollum with a single to the right side of the field.

The Mariners scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 6-3 lead. Fioravanti started things off with a lead off walk. Scott then moved Fioravanti over to second base with his second sacrifice bunt of the game. Wolfe was able to knock a single up the middle to score Fioravanti and take the lead. Robert Tenenholz singled to the right side to put runners on first and second with one out. Darin Coleman then walked to load the bases for McCollum. McCollum added some insurance runs with a single to the right side, scoring Wolfe and Tenenholz. Heine was able to give up no hits or runs in the bottom of the inning to lead USMMA to its first victory of the season.

The Bears and Mariners return to action on Saturday when they take play a doubleheader at 9 a.m.